CANEGROWERS Media Release

15 June 2011:  Potentially devastating cuts to R&D funding headed off at pass:  godsend says CANEGROWERS

The agricultural sector is breathing a collective sigh of relief with news that the federal government will not be making the wholesale cuts to research and development funding, which had been mooted in the draft Productivity Commission report tabled in September last year.

“R&D is our lifeblood – Australia’s key to a strong future in food production,” says Steve Greenwood, CEO of peak sugarcane growers group, CANEGROWERS.

“R&D is a strong contributor to food security, food quality and environmental outcomes. We are cock-a-hoop over this sound decision by the Minister for Agriculture, the Hon Joe Ludwig, which shores up certainty and efficiency for agricultural research at a vitally important time,” he said today.

“To retain Australia’s cutting-edge reputation on the world-stage, it is imperative that we find innovative ways to grow more with less – and the only way we can increase our productivity is by investing in research to come up with solutions which will increase our production.”

CANEGROWERS says the worldwide challenge is to double global food production to feed the ever-increasing population by 2050, while available land shrinks in the face of population growth, climate variability and soil degradation.

“Australia's vast tracts of land are going to be increasingly important as global food security concerns heighten by the year. Overseas players are already buying up Australian agricultural resources,” says Greenwood. “Now is the time to invest, not divest in agriculture,” says Greenwood.

“The sugar industry is feeling first-hand the inherent value in its agricultural assets, with large multi-national conglomerates eyeing of sugar industry assets – in the form of its mills and land.”

CANEGROWERS says it was shocked and appalled by the Productivity Commission report’s draft recommendations in September and since then has been driving a groundswell of response against what it saw as a totally illogical stance which would prove a major setback for the agricultural industry and for food security both at home and abroad. CANEGROWERS submitted a hard hitting submission earlier this year outlining the importance of rural research and the vital role of government in addressing the needs of cutting-edge rural industries such as the sugarcane sector.

But those fears were allayed when Minister Ludwig announced that government funding to match the various industry levies would be maintained.


Media comment:   Steve Greenwood | CANEGROWERS CEO | 0488 721 156
More information: Suzi Moore | CANEGROWERS Communications | 0427 641 239 or 07 3864 6444


The full Productivity Commission report can be downloaded from: http://www.pc.gov.au/projects/inquiry/rural-research/report